Padma Shri and Dr B C Roy National Awardee

In view of the fact that entire basis of complaint was that only two stents have been implanted instead of three stents, as claimed by EHIRC, and since it was been established on record from the opinion given by AIIMS after reviewing the CD that three stents were implanted, … this petition is to be allowed…” (Dr. T. S. Kler vs Govt. of NCT of Delhi & Anr. on 23 February, 2011, High Court of Delhi, W.P. (Crl.) 725 of 2007 with Crl. M.A. 6199 of 2007 % 23.02.2011)

It has come on the record that the complainant was having blockage of multiple vessels due to diffuse atherosclerotic disease and dyslipidemia…It has also come on the record that the complainant had been taking treatment from different doctors and hospitals. Thus, the opposite parties cannot be blamed for any kind of medical negligence and deficiency in service. No case for interference in the impugned order in dismissing the complaint is made out.” (State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission; R.R. Sharma Son of Late Sh. Bal vs Metro Heart Institute And Metro on 13 August, 2012)

“… a person with heart problem should have not been allowed to go in a private car and ambulance with all life saving equipments should have been provided by the doctor,…, just to show the bonafide and concern that the serious patient reaches the tertiary hospital, where his ailment could be managed.” (Sher Singh vs Grewal Hospital on 19 December, 2012: 2nd Bench: State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Punjab; First Appeal No.541 of 2012). In similar conditions in “Smt. Indrani Bhattacharjee Vs Chief Medical Officer, Farakka Super Thermal Power Project & Ors.”, 2007(2) CPC-370(NC), the commission had held the doctor liable.

“… The respondent has been paid at the admissible rate in AIIMS but claims the difference between what is paid and what is admissible rate at Escort. Looking to the facts and circumstances of this Case we hold that the respondent in SLP (C) No. 11968/97 is entitled to be paid the difference amount of what is paid and what is the rate admissible in Escorts then. The same should be paid within one month from today. We make it clear reimbursement to the respondents as approved by us be not treated as precedent but has been given on the facts and circumstances of these cases.” (Supreme Court of India; State of Punjab & Ors vs Ram Lubhaya Bagga Etc. on 26 February, 1998)

The first uterus transplant in the United States was carried out at the Cleveland Clinic.

Spanning nine hours, the operation was performed using a uterus from a deceased donor. It would take a year before the patient can try to become pregnant, allowing her time to heal and providing doctors room for adjustment in medications required to prevent rejection of the organ. Pregnancy would thereafter be possible only through in vitro fertilization. The patient’s eggs were removed surgically before the transplant, fertilized through her husband’s sperm and frozen.
The uterus transplant will be temporary, and it will be removed after the patient has had babies, so as to cease anti-rejection drugs.

Mats Brannstrom, Professor and Chairman, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Gothenburg, Sweden and a world leader in uterus transplantation, forecast that this procedure would become popular in the future and expected that India would see its first baby from uterus transplantation by 2018, remarking that one in every 4,000 girls are born without a uterus across the globe.

IMA has welcomed the innovative move by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare aimed at reducing the maternal mortality ratio and infant mortality rate in the country.

Birth companions will now be allowed during delivery in public health facilities. This step signifies India’s commitment under SDGs to further accelerate initiatives with specific focus on quality parameters of the interventions.

Birth companions are women who have experienced the process of labor and provide continuous one-to-one support to other women experiencing labor and child birth. The presence of a female relative during labor is a low-cost intervention, which has proved to be beneficial to the women in labor. These women provide emotional support (continuous reassurance), information about labor progress and advice regarding coping techniques, comfort measures (comforting touch, massages, promoting adequate fluid intake and output) and advocacy (helping the woman articulate her wishes to the other).

Pre-requisites for a birth companion

The birth companion has to be a female relative, preferably one who has undergone the process of labor.

In facilities where privacy protocols are followed in the labor room, the husband of the pregnant woman can be allowed as a birth companion.

She should not suffer from any communicable diseases.

She should wear clean clothes.

She should be willing to stay with the pregnant woman throughout the process of labor.

She should not interfere in the work of hospital staff and the treatment procedures.

She should not attend to other women in the labor room.

The World Health Organization promotes labor companionship as a core element of care for improving maternal and infant health (WHO 2002). The regional plan of action for maternal and neonatal health care includes the monitoring of maternal and fetal well-being, and encourages the presence of a companion to provide support during labor and delivery as one of the interventions to improve neonatal health. A trained birth companion contributes to reduced tension and shortened labor, increased mother’s feelings of control, decreased interventions and cesareans. It also enhances the partner’s participation, improves outcome for the newborn, facilitates parent/infant bonding and decreases postpartum depression while increasing positive feelings about the birth experience.

Robert Bradley in 1947 gave the woman’s partner an active, major role (i.e., husband-coached childbirth) and emphasized an extremely natural approach, with few or no drugs and little medical intervention during labor and delivery. The Bradley Method emphasizes that birth is a natural process; mothers are encouraged to trust their body and focus on diet and exercise throughout pregnancy; and it teaches couples to manage labor through deep breathing and the support of a partner or labor coach.